Factory photos found in battered briefcase

When Mark Perry's children ran into the house clutching a briefcase they had found buried in rubble in Newport, he thought he had hit the jackpot.

But when he dusted if off and forced it open, there was not gold or diamonds inside.

Instead the case was packed with about 100 old photographs of men and women working at the town's old Serck Audco Valves factory.

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Mr Best, 36, said: "I thought I'd found a fortune. But once I'd got over the initial disappointment and had a look through the photos, it was an interesting find.

"My grandad worked at Audco his whole life and my father worked there as well.

"Unfortunately they are not in any of the pictures, but I hope others will be able to spot relatives."

Mr Perry's children, seven-year-old twins Charlie and Jack McEwan Perry, and seven-year-old Megan Louise Yarsley, found the case while chasing their dog.

The puppy had escaped from the Avenue Road house and shot out onto the former Audco site, which is now demolished. Mr Perry believes that the case has probably laid untouched since the valve-making factory was taken down in 2008.

"It's a battered old thing so I suspect it was just left in one of the buildings," the construction worker said.

The factory started out in St Mary Street in 1870 and a century later employed almost 1,200 people.

But the business gradually shed jobs throughout the 1990s and eventually announced its closure in 1999 with the loss of almost 150 jobs, blaming a decreasing demand for valves.

Mr Perry has now donated the photographs, which are in good condition, to Newport's new heritage centre in High Street.

In among the batch are also photos from factories in Sheffield and Dudley.

Co-ordinator Rodney Pitt said the pictures would add to the centre's growing list of items.

He said: "I'm absolutely delighted to be offered these pictures.

"The History Society will be putting some different displays in the windows over the coming months.

"We are now looking for more community groups to get involved and we want the centre to be open more regularly after Easter," he added.

The heritage centre is at 3a High Street, next to the Guildhall.